Wolverines play tough game against undefeated Trojans

Weiser hosted the Homedale Trojans in an epic battle this past Friday at home.  
 Homedale was undefeated in their Snake River Valley schedule and Weiser was looking to improve their 2-1 SRV record.  Homedale is also the reigning SRV champions and state contenders so the Wolverines knew that this battle was going to be a tough one.  
 Coming off of an enormous game and win against McCall, Weiser had some momentum going and were excited about the match-up.  
 “Homedale is always a big game for us,” head coach Tom Harrison stated. “They have a strong program, but we do as well and we were looking forward to seeing what our guys could bring to the table tonight,” he added.  
 Weiser received the ball first and took eight minutes off of the clock, marching the ball down and finally scoring off of a Brett Spencer, quarterback keeper, and a good extra point by kicker, Willy Shirts.  
 Weiser’s defense would take on Homedale and after just two plays and a minute off the clock, Homedale threw a pass for a touchdown and made good on their extra point to tie the game 7-7.  
 Weiser couldn’t get the offense going and was forced to punt on the next possession, while Homedale capitalized on a Weiser penalty and ended up running in a touchdown, but missing the extra point, 13-7 Homedale.  
 Both team’s next possessions ended up in turnovers on downs, however when Weiser got the ball back, Shirts came alive again, running for short gains and setting up the pass to Kooper von Brethorst in double coverage for a touchdown with a minute left in the half.  Sure-footed Shirts kicked the extra point and Weiser was ahead 14-13.  
 Homedale couldn’t convert during the last minute and Weiser went into halftime with the lead.  
 Homedale started off with the ball in the second half, and encountered Weiser’s defense with nice stops by Eric Torres, Levi Estes, Dayton Turrentine, and Brett Spencer. Homedale would end up throwing the ball for another touchdown, but during the 2-point conversion, Rylee Willet sacked the quarterback for the stop. Homedale led 19-14.  
 With 8:32 left in the third quarter, Weiser would take their time, marching the ball down and utilizing Shirts and Burke.  Weiser’s offensive line did a great job blocking and getting the extra yardage for the Wolverines.  
 As the third quarter ended, Weiser found themselves inside the 10 yard line, poised to score.  Shirts ran for a couple of short gains and Brett Spencer pushed in the last yard for the touchdown.  Once again, Shirts would kick the extra point and brought Weiser ahead 21-19.  
 Homedale couldn’t convert on their possession with great stops by Tyler Pope, Beau Shields, and a final sack by Shirts forcing the punt by the Trojans.  
 Weiser would once again utilize Burke and Shirts to move the ball down the field and Spencer threw another great touchdown pass to von Brethorst in the end zone. Shirts kick was good bringing the score to 28-19 Weiser, but Homedale would answer Weiser’s offense with a touchdown of their own despite great tackles by Torres, Brett Spencer, and Ray Calley.  Once again, the Trojans went for the 2-point conversion and came up short with the score 28-25, Weiser with 5:33 left in the game.  
 Weiser was unable to score on their next possession and Homedale had the ball with three minutes left in the game.  Homedale marched down again and Weiser fans saw some great defense with Brock Spencer making a great stop and Rylee Willet sacking the quarterback and forcing a third down. With less than a minute left on the fourth down, Homedale would score a touchdown and bring the score to 31-28, Homedale.  
 Weiser had one last possession and Spencer threw to von Brethorst who was tackled, but was able to lateral the ball to Shirts gaining extra yards and getting out of bounds to stop the clock.  On a penalty call on an incomplete pass, Weiser would get all the way down to the 34 yard line and in one last attempt a pass from Spencer to Spencer was broken up in double coverage.  Weiser lost the heart-breaker 31-28.
 “I told the boys to keep their chins up,” said Coach Harrison.  “They played their hearts out and just didn’t get the outcome that we wanted tonight. These boys gave Homedale a run for their money and wore them out, but we just couldn’t quite get it done,” he added.  
 Weiser will finish conference play this week facing the Panthers at Parma Friday night.